Elisa Sednaoui (born December 14, 1987) is a model, actress, philanthropist and film director of Syrian, Italian, Egyptian, and French descent.
She has appeared in such films as ''Eastern Drift'', ''La Baie du renard'', ''
Bus Palladium
''Bus Palladium'' is a 2010 French musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Christopher Thompson. It stars Marc-André Grondin, Elisa Sednaoui, and Arthur Dupont.
Cast
* Marc-André Grondin as Lucas
* Arthur Dupont as Manu Pedraza ...
'', ''
Les Gamins
''Les gamins'' is a 2013 French comedy film.
Plot
Thomas is a young man who dreams of a career in music. Gilbert is the future father-in-law of Thomas, married to Suzanne for 30 years and father of Lola, the bride of Thomas. Tired of his life as ...
'', and ''Remember Now'', as well as in fashion campaigns for
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...
Eyewear,
Giorgio Armani
Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...
,
Missoni
Missoni is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Varese, and known for its colorful knitwear designs. The company was founded by Ottavio ("Tai") and Rosita Missoni in 1953.
History Early beginnings
The business was founded in 1953, when O ...
and
Roberto Cavalli
Roberto Cavalli (; born 15 November 1940) is an Italian fashion designer and inventor. He is known for exotic prints and for creating the sand-blasted look for jeans. The high-end Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli sells luxury clothing, perfu ...
.
In 2013, she created the Elisa Sednaoui Foundation, dedicated to promoting creative learning, after-school initiatives for youngsters.
Family and early life
Elisa Sednaoui was born in
Bra, Piedmont
Bra (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cuneo in the northwest Italian region of Piedmont. It is situated southeast of Turin and northeast of Cuneo in the area known as Roero.
Bra is the birthplace of the feminist philosopher Ad ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
and raised between three countries,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. She spent much of her early life in
Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
and
Zamalek
Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east ...
, Cairo. Her mother is of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
heritage, while her father has
Syrian-Egyptian and
French roots. The Sednaoui family, a
Melkite Greek Catholic
el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία
, image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg
, imagewidth = 200px
, alt =
, caption =
, abbreviatio ...
family of Syrian descent, finds its roots in the city of
Sednaya
Saidnaya (also transliterated Saydnaya, Seidnaya or Sednaya, from the syr, ܣܝܕܢܝܐ, ar, صيدنايا, Ṣaydnāyā) is a city located in the mountains, above sea level, north of the city of Damascus in Syria. It is the home of a Greek ...
, from where their surname originates. The Sednaoui family migrated to Egypt at the end of the 19th century and developed successful department stores in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
.
Film
Sednaoui’s first feature film,
Šarūnas Bartas
Šarūnas Bartas (born 16 August 1964) is a Lithuanian film director. One of the most prominent Lithuanian film directors internationally from the late 20th century. His 2015 film ''Peace to Us in Our Dreams'' was screened in the Directors' Fortn ...
’ ''Eastern Drift'' was released in Paris in December 2010. She played the lead female role of "Gabriella", alongside Bartas. The film was shown at
La Berlinale 2010 – section “The International Forum of New Cinema.” In ''La Baie du Renard'', a short film selected to close Critics Week (Semaine de la Critique) at
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
2009, Sednaoui starred alongside Pierre Torreton
She was recently seen on French screens in Christopher Thompson's first feature film ''Bus Palladium'', co-starring with Marc André Grondin and Arthur Dupont. Sednaoui also starred opposite French actor Pascal Greggory in
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer.
He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...
’s short film ''Remember Now'', the introduction to the 2010 Chanel Cruise Collection.
Sednaoui has also appeared in ''Love Lasts Three Years'', released by Europa in January 2012,
and ''The Legend of Kaspar Hauser'', a surrealistic adaptation of the 19th century Teutonic foundling story transposed to Sardinia.
Directorial work
Sednaoui co-directed with Martina Gili the documentary ''Kullu Tamam'' (''Everything is Good''). The film showcases Egyptians not covered by mainstream media by telling the stories of characters who, despite their differences of age and belief, share the sudden discovery of what is usually referred to as “freedom of expression”. The film depicts the
countryside of Luxor.
Selected filmography
Nonprofit
In 2013, Sednaoui created the Elisa Sednaoui Foundation, a
nonprofit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
that promotes creative learning after-school programs for youngsters. The foundation's pilot program, a music workshop for youngsters in
Luxor, Egypt
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
, took place in April, 2014. During a full school-week, local youngsters attended the workshop (organized with the support of Makan—the Egyptian Center For Culture and Arts—and fellow
NPO MIMA Music), which consisted in creative, game-like activities that helped them write and record a full song.
Fashion
In addition to film, Sednaoui has appeared in campaigns for Chanel Eyewear, Giorgio Armani and a Roberto Cavalli fragrance campaign in February 2012, shot by
Steven Klein for print and
Johan Renck
Bo Johan Renck (born 5 December 1966) is a Swedish director of music videos, TV and film. He was originally a singer-songwriter from 1991 to 2001, using the moniker Stakka Bo, and had an international hit with his single " Here We Go" in 1993. Re ...
for television.
In December 2015 she collaborated with Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino on his campaign for Missoni Fragrance. Before his death during February 2019, Sednaoui served as
a muse
''Eungyo'' (), also called ''A Muse'' in some countries, is a 2012 South Korean erotic romantic film adaptation of author Park Bum-shin's novel ''Eun-gyo''. A 70-year-old poet falls in love with a high school girl and is inspired to write a short ...
to
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer.
He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...
.
Sednaoui has been featured on the cover of magazines such as
Glamour Italia,
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
US,
Italian Vogue
''Vogue Italia'' is the Italian edition of ''Vogue'' magazine. Owned by Condé Nast International, it has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. It's been in publication since 1964.
Name
''Vogue Italia'' was first published as ''No ...
,
Vanity Fair, L’Officiel, Flair,
Marie Claire
''Marie Claire'' is a French international monthly magazine first published in France in 1937, followed by the United Kingdom in 1941. Since then various editions are published in many countries and languages. The feature editions focus on wo ...
and
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
, among others.
Personal life
Sednaoui married an Anglo-Sephardic gallerist, Alexander Dellal, on 3 May 2014. They have together two sons, Jack Zeitoun in 2013, and Samo in 2017.
Stéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui () is a French director, photographer, film producer and actor.
Over the years, Sednaoui has redefined his artistic approach to focus on his fine-art and cinematographic projects. New and existing work have been exhibited r ...
is her cousin.
See also
*
Qasr el-Nil Street
Qasr El Nil Street is a street in downtown Cairo, Egypt, one of the biggest streets in Cairo, with many businesses, restaurants, and an active nightlife.
The vintage urban planning and architecture here are reminiscent of the illustrious period ...
References
Bibliography
*search using
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
, criteri
"when Elisa Sednaoui was married"h1>
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sednaoui, Elisa
1987 births
Living people
French female models
French film actresses
French film directors
French women film directors
French people of Syrian descent
French people of Italian descent
Egyptian Melkite Greek Catholics
21st-century French actresses
IMG Models models